A wide variety of rubber products are made with styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR). For instance, large quantities of SBR are utilized in manufacturing tires for automobiles, trucks, aircraft and other types of vehicles. SBR is commonly used in manufacturing tires because it generally improves traction characteristics over polybutadiene rubber.
SBR can be synthesized by utilizing either solution or emulsion polymerization techniques. SBR made by solution polymerization (solution SBR) typically exhibits much better rolling resistance and treadwear characteristics in tire treads. For this reason, solution SBR is often considered to be preferable to emulsion SBR and currently sells at a premium price to emulsion SBR.
For further details on emulsion SBR and the “standard recipe”, see The Vanderbilt Rubber Handbook, George G. Winspear (Editor), R. T. Vanderbilt Company, Inc. (1968) at Pages 34 through 57.
EP 942042 discloses a method for the preparation of multi-viscoelastic response (MVR) rubber and its use in pneumatic tires. These polymers show advantages over conventional emulsion SBR in processing and wear characteristics when used in tires.